Page 87 of Deadly Attraction
Ignoring him, Emma ran too.
“Barn’s on fire,” Mitch announced to Will as he entered the kitchen. The man stood at the back door, a rifle in hand. “You stay here with Emma. I’ll get the horses out.”
“Goddamn SOBs.” Will’s face was grim. “Not the horses for fuck’s sake.”
Mitch felt the same way. He stopped, hearing Emma’s footsteps on the stairs following. “They know this will flush her out. Flushusout. They’re baiting us.”
“They?”
“We got two for sure.”
Will shook his head. “You ain’t gonna put out a barn fire by yourself.”
Emma was breathing hard and had her S&W in-hand as she stalled in the doorway. “That’s why we have to help.”
Mitch wheeled on her. “You are not leaving this house. No one is putting out the fire. All I can do is get the horses out.”
“You think they’ll…?” Will stopped, his gaze saying it all to Mitch, even as he let the words hang in the air because of Emma.
“Think they’ll what?” she said.
Mitch grabbed the door handle.Pick off the horses one by one to draw you out.“Emma, please, I’m begging you. No matter what happens with the horses, do not come outside. That’s what they want and you’ll play right into their hands.”
Her eyes were floating in unshed tears. Her jaw was clenched. She started to argue, then snapped her mouth closed again. “Just go save my horses.”
He nodded, patted her cheek. “I’ll do what I can.”
“I can’t cover you well from inside the house,” Will said. “They might be drawing you out just to shoot you. You should let me go.”
They were wasting too much time. Mitch swung the door open. “I’ve got it.”
Salt and Pepper tried to rush out with him, but he snapped his fingers for them to stay before he shut the door, sealing them inside.
Slipping along the side of the house, he drew his gun and peered around back. All looked clear, but Will was right. He was a sitting duck if he ran across the yard to the barn.
The horses were neighing, flames shooting from the loft. The rain had stopped and done little to coat the barn’s wooden structure that was several years past its last paint job.
A moment of indecision struck him hard in his solar plexus. His job was to keep Emma safe, not the horses.
But damn if he could stomach letting the animals die inside that barn either.
All his training insisted he go back inside. The life of the woman he was protecting was far more valuable than those of Twinkie, Igor, Second Chance and Hope.
And yet, if he let those horses perish, he’d never be able to look Emma in the eye again. The horses, like Danika, meant everything to her. Gave her purpose.
He couldn’t let them die.
Racing to the front of the farmhouse, he kept an eye on his surroundings and jumped into his truck.
The cab still smelled like Emma, reassuring and soothing, in direct contrast to his pounding heart. The Ford’s wheels might be flat, but it would still run. Two-plus tons of steel and fiberglass was a far better shield than none at all.
Cranking the engine, he eyeballed the barn. A hundred feet or so from the house, but only two exits, neither of which provided him or the horses much cover.
He hit the gas and fought with the steering wheel to guide the truck into the best placement he could get to shield him from whoever might be watching the front barn doors.
The F150 was stubborn, built for heavy payloads and rough terrain, so even though the tires were flat, the engine pulled the truck forward. Mitch kept his head down, only peering over the dash enough to keep the truck headed in the right direction.
Please stay in the house, Emma.The doctor was stubborn and took too many risks. He kept half expecting her to race out and jump in the cab with him.
